BlogWeight Loss4 Simple Ways to Lose Weight Without Exercising

4 Simple Ways to Lose Weight Without Exercising

Not a fan of working out? We’ve got you. Try these smart ways to slim down.
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If weight loss held a gala, healthy eating and exercise would be the power couple on the red carpet. (Medications like semaglutide would get the third invite—chat with a ReflexMD Wellness Advisor to find out why.) Yes, good-for-you foods and physical activity do complement each other, but it’s difficult for many people to get motivated to exercise. 

Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you’re getting over an injury, have limited mobility, or simply don’t enjoy exercising. If you fall into that third camp, you’re far from alone: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that only 28% of U.S. adults meet the agency’s recommended physical activity guidelines. Does that mean your weight-loss efforts are doomed to fail? 

Not at all. Exercise improves health in very significant ways—it’s especially critical for heart and brain health—but research shows that it’s not a mandatory part of weight management. 

However, if you’re going to skimp on fitness, you may need to add more tactics to your weight-loss mix. Consider these four as your starting point. 

Related: The Complete Guide to Losing Weight Safely

1. Fill up on fiber

The number of calories you eat each day is an important part of weight loss, but it’s not the only aspect to keep in mind. Make sure your meals include plenty of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and other healthy sources of fiber, say dietitians. 

Peer-reviewed research also makes the case for fiber: For example, in a study of 345 people who followed a low-calorie diet for six months, those who consumed more fiber lost more weight. 

What’s more, the study participants who ate the most fiber tended to stick with their program longer, since fiber is satiating and can help you feel full for longer if you’re eating fewer calories.

Related: Taking Semaglutide For Weight Loss? Put These 10 Foods On Your Plate

2. Think about when—not just what—you eat

The evidence around intermittent fasting, also called time-restricted eating, is growing more robust, according to Mark Mattson, Ph.D., adjunct professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. 

Mattson says that even modest efforts, like confining your eating to an 8- or 10-hour window during the day, can lead to improvements in blood sugar regulation, an important part of appetite and satiety. 

“With a longer stretch of not eating, our body does a metabolic switch that includes relying less on glucose stored from eating and more on burning fat,” he says.

It’s important to pay attention to how these types of changes—eating more fiber and changing the timing of meals—are affecting your weight loss, and to give them enough time to work, suggests Heather Hinshelwood, M.D., chief of medicine at the Fraum Center for Restorative Health in South Carolina.

Also, you might need to lower your expectations too. Ignore headlines like “how to lose 5 pounds in a week,” for example. Speedy weight loss isn’t healthy, recommended, sustainable, or backed up by research.

“For any significant changes you make in terms of how, when, and what you eat, make sure that you implement those shifts for a couple months before determining whether they’re helpful, so your body has time to adjust,” she says.

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3. Focus on stress and sleep

There are other factors besides exercise to consider if losing weight is your goal. Sleep and stress are top examples, given the research, so it makes sense to take steps to find more calm in your days and prioritize good sleep habits. 

For example, an editorial in Frontiers in Endocrinology notes that several types of hormones and other chemicals are released during stressful episodes, in a way that might provide short-term benefits (sprinting out of the path of an oncoming bus, for instance) but can interfere with your biochemistry in the long run. 

Most notably, stress can prompt greater fat storage, and also change your behavior around eating in a way that leads to weight gain, the researchers found.

Sleep is also incredibly key when it comes to fostering weight-loss success. For example, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that even short periods of sleep disruption can lead to consuming more calories overall because it tends to make people crave snacks more often. 

Another study, in Nutrients, found that people who get more restful sleep—and who sleep longer—are 33% more likely to successfully lose weight.

4. Consider a weight-loss medication

There’s a persistent misconception that medication is an easy button for weight loss, says Dr. Hinshelwood, requiring no effort from the people taking them. That’s not entirely true. 

Medications like ReflexMD’s semaglutide do make losing weight possible for millions of people who’ve struggled to drop pounds using diet and exercise alone. However, they should be thought of as a tool in the toolbox, along with dietary and lifestyle changes, that lead to sustainable weight loss. 

“These medications are getting a great deal of attention for good reason, and it’s because they work for many patients,” she adds. “Also, there are a breadth of choices, so talk to your doctor about which one might be a fit for you and your goals.”

Related: How Much Weight Can You Lose In A Month?

Staying active might accelerate the results you see from a weight loss medication, says Dr. Hinshelwood, but they don’t change the mechanism. 

That said, exercise is good for every part of your body and your overall health, so it does make sense to figure out how to get more movement into your day. This doesn’t mean you need to train for a marathon. Three low-lift ways to start: 

  1. Whatever you’re doing, do more of it—for example, walk a little more each day. 
  2. Sit less and stand more. Try this during off-camera work calls, for example. 
  3. Make movement fun (think: game of hide-and-seek with the kids or cat) or productive (weeding, gardening) whenever possible.

If you think a weight loss medication like semaglutide might be right for you, chat with a ReflexMD Wellness Advisor now or take our short quiz to see if you qualify.

Prevalence of Meeting Aerobic, Muscle-Strengthening, and Combined Physical Activity Guidelines During Leisure Time Among Adults, by Rural-Urban Classification and Region — United States, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 27, 2023.

Cox C. Role of Physical Activity for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance. Diabetes Spectrum. August 30, 2017.

Miketinas D et al. Fiber Intake Predicts Weight Loss and Dietary Adherence in Adults Consuming Calorie-Restricted Diets. The Journal of Nutrition. October 2019.

Heshmati H et al. Editorial: Stress-Induced Weight Changes. Frontiers in Endocrinology. May 22, 2023.

Nedeltcheva A et al. Sleep Curtailment Is Accompanied by Increased Intake of Calories from Snacks. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. December 3, 2009.

Papatriantafyllou E et al. Sleep Deprivation: Effects on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Nutrients. April 2022.

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